Comic books are popular around the world, and sometimes, comics from other countries make their way to the United States thanks to the wonders of translation. An imperfect yet incredible and necessary art, translation allows us to enjoy stories that would otherwise be closed to us.
Chances are that if you’re a big-time comics fan, you have already read at least one comic in translation. Manga and manhwa — or comics from Japan and Korea, respectively — are both extremely popular here in the U.S., and classics like Persepolis and Tintin, both originally published in French, have become international must-reads.
It goes without saying that it’s a big, wide world out there with comics in so many languages to discover. Let’s look at five graphic novels translated from five different languages to help you expand your horizons even more!
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Aya: Life in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie, Translated from French by Helge Dascher
This is the start of a series of graphic novels about the lives of three young women coming of age in the Ivory Coast in the 1970s. It was a time and place full of rapid changes. Their everyday adventures and troubles make for highly entertaining and relatable reading.
Early Man Was a Woman: Reclaiming Prehistory by Ulli Lust, Translated from German by Elisabeth Lauffer (September 2026)
Pop culture has a very specific idea of how early humans looked and acted. But is our notion of a prehistoric society dominated by warlike men based on fact? This graphic history takes a deep dive into what early civilizations were really like — and what they say about humans today.
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Heartcore by Štěpánka Jislová, Translated from Czech by Martha Kuhlman
It can be difficult to understand how one ended up in a toxic relationship, how to get out of it, and how to build healthier relationships in the future. Through this graphic memoir, Jislová seeks to address all of these questions and apply the lessons learned to her own life.
Onion Skin by Edgar Camacho, Translated from Spanish by Edgar Camacho
This offbeat yet charming Mexican graphic novel follows a disenchanted office worker who starts an unexpectedly dangerous new career as a food truck entrepreneur alongside his spirited new friend.
Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed, Translated from Arabic by Deena Mohamed
In a magical world where wishes can be bought at certain shops in Cairo, three individuals struggle with how to use their wishes (and if they should use them at all). But wishes can be hard to come by and are often unpredictable. Is it worth the risk?
Want even more? Check out these translated comics that get into some messy drama (you’ll see a couple of familiar titles) as well as these 18 comics from around the world.
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